Traditionally, personal computing hardware and software systems followed a model where users explicitly made trust decisions about every new piece of software installed and run on computer hardware. For instance, a user could install software by inserting a compact disk (CD) into a computer system. The user was responsible for the safety of the installed software.
Different security issues, however, may arise for software applications that are delivered to computers via the Internet via, for example, a web browser. For example, large companies may not wish to automatically trust each application that individual employees download. As another example, a developer may host an installable application on its own server. This may make users doubtful about installing the application, because installing from a trusted website (e.g., a digital marketplace or web store hosted by a server) is supposed to be safer.
Users need a way to learn more about web applications or browser extensions offered from a developer's server or via a developer's website, before installing them. It would be beneficial to allow users to validate information, read reviews, or learn about permission requirements of web applications or browser extensions offered from a developer's server or via the developer's website, without having to navigate away from a developer's website.